Road to Rediscovery: Talisman- A Biker's Leather Jacket

Word Count: 1088

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It hadn’t stopped raining since Basilia stepped between the pillars. The world seemed to bleed into another, familiarizing her until it finally let her go. She wandered between high walls of red brick and came out the other side. There was a group of women, lingering around under a roof and next to motorbikes.

Basilia watched them as the rain drenched her clothes, weighing her down. These other women wore black-stained leather jackets that resisted the rain, having them roll down in drops. They conversed with each other, joked, and playfully wrestled or maintained their bikes. It took awhile for one to look down the alley and see the gorgon standing in the rain staring at them.

“Hey! Who are you?” one called to her. Immediately the other women stood at attention. “What are you doing just standing in the rain like that? Holy shit- you’re soaked.”

The woman approached her. Her posture was guarded, but otherwise non-threatening. Basilia pulled the blindfold in place. She could see faint shadows through the thin fabric, but more importantly- these women couldn’t see her eyes.

“Let’s get you inside.” the woman said. 

Hesitantly, Basilia stepped out of the alleyway and made herself known. She heard the withdrawal from the woman, taking a flinching step back as she saw Basilia for what she was. The gorgon couldn’t help but feel her mood drop as she heard the women whispering among themselves.

“Someone get Ruth,” she heard one say, intentionally bringing the volume back to something more conversational. “I think she’d want to see… her.”

And now Basilia reflexively stood a defensive stance. The snakes surrounding her became antsy, shifting along her head. They hissed and shook their scales. 

A door loudly opened and shut.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.” Basilia warned.

The tension in the air became thick. It was hot. Basilia wondered if the rain was hitting her skin and instantly turning to steam. She was boiling.

And then the door was flung open. She flinched. The snakes poised to lunge. There was a gasp and silence aside from the pattering of rain.

“You weren’t kidding. It is Her.” a new voice said, presumably Ruth.

“What?”

Footsteps, splashing in the rain. Basilia felt a flare of fear run down her spine and her cheeks became hot. The footsteps stopped. A moment of tension. And then she heard the shuffling of clothes.

“Look.”

“I can’t.” Basilia resisted with a shake of her head. 

“Oh, right. Here, I have an idea. Can I get closer?”

The gorgon nods. Ruth is next to her, she can barely feel the heat of a new person and hear her breathing over the rain. 

“Can I touch you?”

The hiss came from Basilia’s own mouth this time. But she nodded. 

“Close your eyes.”

She did. She felt this new woman push her blindfold up to her forehead. Then slide something new on her face, something hard but flexible.

“Okay, it should be safe to open your eyes.”

The world was darker. Tinted subtly. Mostly noticeable when Basilia looked at lights, which didn’t glare nearly as much as they were before. She looked at Ruth and Ruth made eye contact with her. Ruth was still fleshy.

Ruth was a short and broad woman, looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. Her hair was cut short- boy hair. But it looked good on her and made her look tough. She was wearing one of those leather jackets the rest of the women were wearing, but she had pulled it off of one arm. 

She had pulled back a sleeve and was revealing her bicep to the gorgon. Marked on Ruth’s skin was an image of Her. A depiction of the very goddess that had turned Basilia into a form similar. It wasn’t quite what she had seen of Her, but the intent was there. 

“Are you Her?” Ruth asked.

Basilia shook her head once. “I have her mark upon me, too. Clearly.”

“I see. I’m… so sorry you went through that.” Ruth sympathized, pulling her sleeve back over the tattoo. 

“And I you.” Basilia smiled. She hated another woman who had gone through anything remotely similar to what she had. But she was grateful that She seemed to reach and protect even across wordly barriers. “Explains how you knew how to approach me.”

“We’ve… we’ve all been there, hon.” Ruth admitted. “It’s shit, but it keeps us together. We got to look out for each other. And I’m gonna look out for you, too-” Ruth removed her jacket and draped it around Basilia’s shoulders. “And we’ll start by getting that rain off of you. You’re soaked!”

“Thank you, Ruth.” Basilia adjusted the fit of the jacket. It was far stiffer than anything she’d worn before, but the warmth of the other body and the relief from the rain more than made up for it. And it made her feel tough.

“You can keep it. It’s gotten a little small for me anyways.” Ruth drummed her belly. It was something to be ashamed of, at least that’s what Basilia was taught, when a woman weighed too much. But Ruth seemed to not care. She smiled. She was large, but that was Ruth. And Ruth wasn’t going to be anyone but Ruth.

 

“Leaving us?” Ruth observed.

“You don’t feel bad?” Basilia asked. She was already mounted on her motorcycle and her helmet was held in both of her hands. The gorgon intended to abscond in the middle of the night, but clearly Ruth had other ideas.

“Just upset you didn’t want to tell us good-bye first. At least me.”

“I’m… sorry. I’m not good with good-byes.” Basilia admitted.

“You’ll try to write, right?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“You’re still wearing that jacket I got you.” Ruth pointed out with a quirked brow. “I don’t think it’s quite your style, hon.”

“Sure. But a friend gave it to me. And it means a lot.” Basilia smiled. “To me, this jacket is a lot more than a hand me down. It was a moment of time where I first felt solidarity. Where I felt hope. Where I saw a woman unafraid to be herself. And I wanted so much to be like her- but in my own way.”

Ruth wiped tears from her eyes with the palm of her hand. “All right, all right. I get it. I’ll miss you, too, hon. Now get outta here before the other gals wake up.”